Chapter 36

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Su Jiu suddenly turned around and saw Nangong Shu standing behind her, his face cold, but there was a touch of imperceptible teasing in his gaze.

“Why is it that every time I stand up for someone, I am seen by Brother Nangong?” Su Jiu bantered, raising her eyebrows.

Nangong Shu raised his eyebrows in return. “Looks like I shouldn’t be passing by here today.”

“Nah!” Su Jiu shrugged her shoulders and grinned. “I shouldn’t have stood up for someone in the place where Brother Nangong passed by!”

Nangong Shu smirked in amusement.

“I’m going out of town to handle some matters. I’ll invite Master Su to tea next time we meet,” Nangong Shu said courteously.

“Sure!” Su Jiu smiled.

Nangong Shu nodded and walked past Su Jiu.

“Oh wait!’ Su Jiu suddenly turned around and shouted after Nangong Shu.

“What can I do for you?” Nangong Shu looked back.

“Well,” Su Jiu hesitated for a moment before pretending to be calm. “I’m lost. Could you tell me how to get back to Xieyang Street?”

Nangong Shu seemed to want to laugh but held back. He hid his chuckle by pretending to cough. “Go straight, west along this street, turn right at the intersection, and then turn left!”

Su Jiu nodded and clasped her fists in thanks. “Thank you, Brother Nangong!”

“You’re welcome!” Nangong Shu turned and strode to the gate.

——

The man who bought the chicken had already left the gate by this time, carrying five chickens in a basket on his back. It was not light but he did not feel tired and walked briskly to the village at the foot of Yuhu Mountain.

He was used to the mountain roads, and he got home before dark. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted, “Mother, I’m back!”

“Why are you back so late?” The woman ran out of the house.

The man put down the basket on his back to show the woman, “Mother, look!”

Five chickens lay in the basket, clucking.

The woman looked at it in surprise. “Why did you buy so many?”

The man carried enough firewood to the city to exchange for only one chicken.

The man smiled and recounted how someone stole the silver, but then he met a kind man who bought him chicken.

“That’s great!”

The woman caressed the chickens happily, “We’ll kill one for your wife, and keep the others and then they’ll be able to lay eggs by next spring!”

“I’ll listen to you, Mother!” the man said, looking towards the west room, before he asked, “How is she?”

“Same as before. Go in and have a look!” the woman said, moving the basket against the wall. She decided that she would build a chicken coop tomorrow.

The man rubbed his hands and went into the hall. There was a water tank in the southeast corner of the room. He picked up the ladle, scooped up half a ladle of water, and drank it in one gulp.

After drinking, he looked at the curtain of the west room. There was a strange smile on his weathered face, as if in anticipation, both shy and admiring. It took a while for him to walk into the room.

The west room used to be a man’s room, and the ground was full of holes and dents, making it uneven. Under the window and against the wall, ash green drapes adorned an old mottled wooden bed.

At this time the drapes were lifted, and under the beige quilt laid a woman. She was pale, looking at the ceiling in a daze.

When she saw the man come in, her eyes immediately brightened. She sat up straight, using her arms as support and asked eagerly, “Did you go and deliver the letter to my house?”

The man leaned against the bedpost and looked at the lady’s beautiful face. His ears were suddenly red. “My mother said, when we get married and have children, we’ll then go and tell your family!”

The woman’s pale face grew ashen, and she sneered coldly, “I am the young lady of the Su family, and you want me to marry you? Dream on!”

The man turned frustrated and annoyed, his neck stiff. “I saved your life, who else would you marry! Don’t people in the city like you know how to repay gratitude with marriage? Why doesn’t it count here? Besides, you’re no longer pure, would your fiancé still want you?”

The woman’s face was deathly pale. She closed her eyes, leaned back on the pillow, and said despondently, “Even so, I will never marry a poor man like you!”

She was supposed to be the Young Mistress of the Ji family, and enjoy power and luxury. How would she be willing to marry a poor man who lived in a village?

Even if she couldn’t marry into the Ji family, she could still go back to Fuyang, where she would still be a young lady.

The attendants of the Su family were dead, this much she knew. No one outside of them knew what happened in Yuhu Mountain. To them, she was still a pure young lady and could marry into a good family.

If she stayed here, her life would be ruined!

So the most important thing now was to go back.

At the thought of this, the woman’s expression softened a little, and she coaxed gently, “Do you want me to live a hard life with you? I can’t do anything, let alone household chores. Why don’t you give a message to my house? When I get home, I’ll give you presents to show my gratitude. My family will give you as much money as you want!”

The man sat in the shadows, bent and rubbed his fingers silently.

The woman leaned forward and continued to persuade him, “You just want a wife. As long as you let me go home, I’ll give you two servant girls, they will give you as many children as you want.”

The man chuckled, his face shy, as he stuttered, “I-I just want you!”

The woman was speechless and almost choked in frustration. She really didn’t want to talk to this fool anymore, but she had to continue. “Even if you want to marry me, you have to get both families’ parents’ approval for it to count. You get the best of both worlds if you tell my family to come and find me and then ask for my hand in marriage from my parents.”

“Yes, but what if you leave and don’t come back?” the man asked.

When the woman saw that the man was starting to consider this, she immediately raised her hand and vowed, “I swear I will return!”

“Well, I…” The man hesitated, and as soon as he was about to speak, he heard his mother cough a few times in the hall through the curtain.

The man suddenly stood up and dared not look at the lady, only bowing his head to say, “Don’t think about going home, you will live a good life with me in the future. I will certainly treat you well!”

He lifted the curtain and went out.

Listening to the whispering of a woman and man in the hall, the lady in bed turned pale. She pushed a wooden stool by the bed and it made a clang.

The sound in the hall went abruptly quiet.